First flight of the MC-21

It is not every day that you get to see an entirely new type of aircraft taking to the skies, not a version of an existing one but a clean-sheet design.

Today in Irkutsk, Siberia, where its production facility is located, the new Russian mid-sized airliner, the MC-21 took to the skies for the very first time, on a test flight.

Some pictures and videos have started appearing on Russian media. Here are some pictures that have been made public by Irkut, the United Aircraft Corporation subsidiary that is in charge of the MC-21 programme.

So, it's official, the single-aisle, mid-size airliner market has a new entrant.

Today's MC-21 flight, together with the first flight of its Chinese equivalent, the C-919, just a few weeks ago, and the constant dripping of CS300 deliveries (Swiss just got its first of the type earlier this week), will certainly make things more interesting for analysts covering this segment of the market, as the industry moves away from the de facto duopoly that the two giants, Boeing and Airbus have enjoyed in the last couple of decades.

If you wish to learn more about the MC-21, do not miss our post of almost one year ago, when we were present at the official unveiling of the aircraft.